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Atlantics

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96% Tomatometer 159 Reviews 64% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Arranged to marry a rich man, young Ada is crushed when her true love goes missing at sea during a migration attempt -- until a miracle reunites them.
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Atlantics

Atlantics

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Critics Consensus

An unpredictable supernatural drama rooted in real-world social commentary, Atlantique suggests a thrillingly bright future for debuting filmmaker Mati Diop.

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Critics Reviews

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Stephanie Zacharek TIME Magazine 08/01/2024
Atlantics is rooted in the dangerous realities of migration, but it's also a movie about the smudgy space between life and death, and the irresistible pull of young love. Go to Full Review
Kathleen Anaza Shadow and Act 03/11/2020
The film is as aesthetically beautiful as it is a visionary social commentary. Go to Full Review
Christy Lemire Breakfast All Day 01/24/2020
8/10
I really enjoyed trying to puzzle through this and I was very impressed by the tonal balance that Mati Diop pulls off here. Go to Full Review
Wael Khairy The Cinephile Fix Feb 19
Like ghosts, her films are traces, fragments of lives, histories, and emotions that refuse to fade into oblivion....operating between the realms of the living and the dead, the past and the present, the material world and the spiritual... Go to Full Review
Paul Kanieski KSQD Community Radio 07/22/2023
Diop’s bold choices exude confidence. Her occasionally oblique storytelling trusts the intelligence of her audience; what may initially appear as superfluous puzzle pieces prove essential when they finally snap in place to complete the bigger picture. Go to Full Review
Keith Garlington Keith & the Movies 08/19/2022
3.5/5
The metaphor-rich imagery speaks to many of the feelings at the heart of Diop’s film – loneliness, betrayal, an ever-present longing. But they also convey a silent rage towards the many injustices vividly portrayed throughout this haunting tale. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Andy K Feb 20 Beautifully shot and acted. At times ethereal and enigmatic. Always interesting and engaging. Would highly recommend See more Marco M 12/01/2024 I would like to try and interpret the meaning of an important element of the story; I have not found it explained in the critics' reviews that I have read (I have not read all). There will necessarily be spoilers in my review. I am going to focus on the characters of Ada, Souleimani, and Issa. In the movie characters appear with whitened pupil and iris. First it is only a group of women, then also this happens also to detective Issa. The phenomenon seems to be reversible, i.e., it is for Issa. The movie does not explain explicitly what this entails. My interpretation is that whitened eyes correspond to a situation where these living persons are visited by the souls of the dead youngsters, who flee by boat at the beginning of the movie, and then die in a shipwreck. The group of women subjected to this event are the girl friends and partners of the dead men; in fact the women with whitened eyes try and get money for their dead partners from the building contractors, who had not paid them. Then also Issa experiences the same phenomenon, which is preceded by strong physical distress, and happens for the first time after a confrontation with Ada, whom he is suspecting for arson. My interpretation is that Issa is visited by Souleimani's soul. The reason is that Issa is actually falling in love for Ada, and Souleimani find in Issa a companion soul. This is evident towards the end, when finally Issa and Ada first hug, then kiss, then make love. During the first phase of the unveiling of their tentative love, they hug and kiss in a room with a mirror, where we see in real life Ada and Issa hugging, who are reflected in the mirror by Ada and Souleimani hugging; I believe that this represents the transition from Ada's past life, which is not possible any more because Souleimani is dead, to the new one, where she and Issa fall in love with each other. The arc of the movie goes from when Ada is promised to Omar, whom she despises, but loves Souleimani, to when Ada has succeded in getting rid of Omar (indirectly thanks to Souleimani's death) and is ready to start a new independent life, possibly with Issa (though the movie does not have an obvious happy end). See more Mark H 11/03/2024 Incredibly boring. Kept waiting for something interesting to happen; I'm sorry I waited. What a waste. See more Patrick R 10/13/2024 Subtitles? Why isn't this mentioned in the review? Wasted our time. See more Mike W 10/09/2024 It simply was not good. So sorry that I watched all of it. See more Charlotte B 11/26/2023 One of the worst films I've ever seen. See more Read all reviews
Atlantics

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Movie Info

Synopsis Arranged to marry a rich man, young Ada is crushed when her true love goes missing at sea during a migration attempt -- until a miracle reunites them.
Director
Mati Diop
Producer
Judith Lou Lévy, Eve Robin
Screenwriter
Mati Diop, Olivier Demangel
Distributor
Netflix
Production Co
Les Films du Bal, arte France Cinéma, Cinekap, Frakas Productions
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Wolof
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 15, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 29, 2019
Runtime
1h 45m
Aspect Ratio
1.66:1
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